Project Life - Workspace Organization

Since I have decided to go with Project Life for another year, I also, finally, rearranged my office/craft room to accommodate that and I can’t believe how much easier it is for me now to stay current, when it’s not nearly as big a to-do to get stuff out and put it away again! In this post I’d like to share some organizational tips with you, that have worked for me over the last year or so!

 

Up until, oh, 2 years ago, I was really only scrapping and art journaling digitally. I was doing many other hands-on crafts, but they lent themselves more to being stashed away in a cupboard until you need the supplies.

Then I started getting into the “get your hands dirty” arts and crafts a bit more again, and then added the non-digital version of Project Life and suddenly it wasn’t just my computer workflow that was important anymore!

Here’s a picture of my desk space before I went non-digital:

 

 

On the other side of this space is a full wall of upper and lower cabinets that houses pretty much all my other arts and crafts supplies. Everything in it’s place and a place for everything. Lovely! But ....

The issue is however, that it means I either have to get up every few minutes to get something else, and then spend quite some time putting everything away again. Or get everything at the beginning and clutter up the work space. 

What happened was that I let things accumulate, both on the “doing my cards front” as well as on the other end when it came to clearing it up. Since my crafting desk is also my computer desk, this can turn out very disorganized.

So, after purging my way through the craft room and de-stashing a bit while I was at it, I also implemented quite a few changes that now put the things for Project Life, scrapping and Art Journaling/Mixed Media within easy reach!

And what a change it has made!

 

For example, I have a fair amount of stamps and they are all organized. I talk about them in this post.

As great as that system is, it wasn’t working out so well for me when it came to Project Life. I’m all about the work flow and if it ends up being disrupted, then my productivity and inspiration somewhat go out of the window!

 

 

One of the first things I did, was take out the frequently used PL stamps and keep them in a little drawer, together with my most frequently used stamp pads. SO much easier! I can always go and get more or different stamps or stamp pads if I so desire, but I don’t have to go through a whole drawer full of stuff every time I want to stamp a date on a PL card! Now I can just take the little drawer out and have everything right there!

 

 

I did a similar thing in the next little drawer with all things adhesive! I already have an adhesives and mediums drawer, but it covers everything from Mod Podge, gel mediums, Micro Glue Dots , etc. Again, I really don’t need that for PL. My two most frequently used adhesive mediums are the Perma Tac adhesive glider (the best adhesive roller ever!)  and the Micro Glue Dots. Occasionally I will use the Xyron "X" for intricate borders and such, but that’s about it.

So, now they live in their own mini drawer on my desk. Easily accessible!

 

 

When you see my PL journaling cards, you will see a fair amount of embellishments on them. Over the last year, I have had all my little cut things and embellishments nicely organized, but out of sight. Turns out I’m more of a visual person when it comes to embellishments and I forget what I have, or don’t even get all that inspired unless I see it.

Along came a bargain bin closeout find at Michael’s. I got these little trays for $5 (down from $27 I think) and they are perfect for all the little odds and ends that I put on my cards! Now I have a lovely overview of what I have and have easy access!

 

 

Speaking of embellishments - I have a little confession to make. Yep! I’m ever so slightly obsessed with wood veneer shapes! I LOVE those things! And I have a lot of them.

Some of them are very small, some are fairly large, which makes storing them in a uniform and easily accessible way somewhat difficult.

Can you guess my super sophisticated system that has worked SO well for this last year and a bit?

 

 

Yep, stapled together sandwich bags!! (Note: I only staple them on one side, right under the closure strip!)

I know it’s not the prettiest, but it really works for me. I have all the room I need, I can see all of them and choose whichever I need. It’s easily opened and closed and size really doesn’t matter in this setup! If I get a new set, I add a bag, but simply stapling it to the others!

Incidentally, I organize all my chipboard alphas the same way! This whole mess of bags goes in the box with the other alphabet sheets.

 

 

Next, I used two IKEA drawer organizers for my main supplies. I pretty much make all my cards myself, other than the 3x4 and the 6x4 grid cards. I use those a lot as the base for my journaling cards!

 

 

One houses all the cards, 3x4 and 4 x 6 , as well as wood veneer embellishments and some tag pads, garlands and larger embellishments that don’t fit in my little compartmentalized trays.

I have my pre-made journaling cards to the front, and the blanks further to the back.

 

 

The other one houses my most frequently used tools. I have my punches, stapler, and small scissors in there, which makes for an easy cleanup, just dropping them back into those compartments when I’m done.

 

 

In the back I employ the sandwich bag organizational system again, only this time not stapled together. I have borders in one, misc. scrap paper cut-offs and border strips in another. Simple and inexpensive system, but it keeps it all nicely divided and organized, yet visible.

 

 

I built this little table as an addition to my work space just so the PL workflow would work better. Previously I only had the little cart there.

 

 

The top of the table (to my left)  now serves as my sewing machine station (for stitching cards), while the top of the Art Journaling /Mixed Media cart (to my right)  has the Vintage Type writer on it.

 

{One of these days I hope to replace this one with some grey/black drawers to match the room, but this is what I had at the time!}

I used to have both the sewing machine and the type writer in another place in the craft room and it just became too cumbersome to drag out the machines and then put them back just for a card or two! And even though that places carts in front of the drawers of my desk, both are easily wheeled away, should need to get at the drawers behind, which I don’t nearly as frequently as I do Project Life and Art Journaling/Mixed Media!

Now I just need to swivel one way or another and it’s all right there!

 

 

I also got these photo boxes at Michael’s. One houses all my alphabets and alpha stickers, the other holds all other sticker type of material. Those are still stashed away in the box and I do still have to rummage through it, but I can deal with it for those two things.

 

 

 

The cart houses all my card stock in the top drawer, all my scrapbooking papers in the bottom drawer and the middle drawer has all the misc. things in them, like lesser used punches, refills, printer color etc. Stuff I don’t need on a daily basis but want to have close by!

 

My Silhouette cutter, craft dryer and card reader are housed in the cupboard right next to me, on a little shelf above the computer and are permanently hooked up, so when it’s time to use something, I just need to pull it out and go.

My printer, with all the photo paper and label printing supplies is to my left, also nice and accessible! The PL album I’m currently working on is also stashed right next to it, as is the paper cutter. And of course all of this is happening on my “computer desk” all be it a very large one, so I pretty much have one stop crafting now!

 

 

Anyway, all in all, this latest organization has made such a difference to my work flow when it comes to project life. From getting the photos off the camera, to printing, to journaling, to embellishing, to journaling, to adding them to the album - once I sit down, I have it all within arm’s length, readily accessible. And clean-up is a breeze - not just for Project Life activities, but for all the messy Art projects!

I’m a happy super-organized crafter right now! Yay!

How do you keep your craft space organized?

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A Super-Organized August

I have been missing in action a little again over the last few weeks. The next few blog posts will give you a little bit of an idea as to what I’ve been doing with some of my time!

 

You’ve seen the posts all over pinterest and the blogsphere about those super-organized women who manage to feed their family of six on $200 a month and only cook or shop once a month, right?

Yes, I’ve seen them too! And I have nothing but admiration for them! Way to go on time and money management, girls! I consider myself already fairly organized, but that was out there even for me! But I decided to try and fine tune my routine a lot more and pick from their suggestions what might work for us as a family!  I want to see if it really makes a difference to my time and money management and to us as a family in general!

 

So, for the month of August I have chosen the following for me (in no particular order):

 

1.) To meal plan for the month.

That part was the easiest! It’s amazing how quickly that happened once I had it in front of me! I just pulled up Excel and went for it! I used our favorite staple meals throughout the month, used a few new recipes I had pinned and then filled in the rest with things that would work. When you have it written down in front of you it’s much easier than it sounds!

The other part of that is starting to put together a shopping list as you plan your meals.

 

2.) Organize pantry, freezer and rotate any food storage that needs it!

That part was long over due. I have a tiny pantry and even though it’s relatively organized, I still loose stuff in there when it gets too full! I also keep various specialty ingredients in different places, so it’s easy to loose track of things!

 

                       

{You can see more of my pantry here!}

 

So giving the pantry, fridge, freezer and other food cupboards a good overhaul, doesn’t just help with the organization of things, but you really know what you actually have (and where) and what you need to shop for. And you don’t have to do it again for a while, so that helps too. Now, if you are really into that kind of thing, you could even make a list of all the things you have (and where) and when they need to be used, etc, as that really helps with “inventory” control. But I didn’t go that far this month. I generally have a really good overview of what I have after a good clean out for about 2 months or so. Then I start forgetting about things again, but I think I might be due another overhaul by then anyway, so I will see how that works out for me!

So, that’s what I did. It helped that for my two cooking/cleaning/organizing days the kids were at summer camp for most of the day and I really got stuff done! I always forget how much faster I can be when it’s just me!

 

I had my shopping list already in hand from the menu planning, now I was adding or taking off things as I was going through the pantry, freezer and food cupboards. Since I am usually pretty well stocked, it was more taking off than adding for me. I was also taking into account breakfasts and regular staples that might not be on the meal plan while going through the pantry. Staple condiments, peanut butter, snacks and all that.

 

2.) Get most of the month’s shopping over and done with in the space of two days.

Once the shopping list was done, it’s time to hit the stores. I generally limit myself  Costco for bulk, farmer’s market or our local Asiana market for wholefood and organic ingredients and safeways/fry’s for the rest of the local items. In addition to that I also do online shopping. I have some subscribe & save bulk items from Amazon.com, I wait for sales on bulk items online, like the Organic Palm Shortening I posted about the other day, and other gluten-free and low-carb items -  as they are usually much cheaper that way than you can ever get in the stores. Since we eat a lot of nuts, I also get those online for the most part. Except for pine nuts and cashews, we get those from Costco!

 

I got my shopping done barring a few items I picked up on the third day, within the two days and it didn’t seem all that stressful really. So, other than the fresh (often organic) produce half way through the month, we were set!

I also realized that there was going to be no way I will feed my family on $200 a month. That has little to do with not knowing how, but more to do with the food choices I/we make for our family. We prefer to eat organic as often as we can afford it, we have whole and specialty ingredients. You pay more for that, even when you are very shopping savy, but we’re ok with that - it’s worth the health benefits we reap!

 

 

Make it a point to do this kind of very organized shopping without the kids. This might be a no-brainer, but really, do set aside the time, get somebody to watch the kids and go shopping by yourself!

It can feel much less overwhelming to have your brain cover a whole month (that can be a lot of things on your list!) when you’re not being interrupted every 2 seconds!

 

3.) To cook, prep and portion as much as possible for 2 days to facilitate as little cooking and prepping as possible for the rest of the month.

This was real fun for me actually. Once I had my meal plan, it was quite easy to do too, it just took a little organization.

 

What it entailed:

-Precooking and freezing ground beef/chicken/turkey in bulk.

I seasoned half with homemade taco seasoning, the other half was just salt and pepper. It makes for a real easy meal when the meat is already done and ground beef takes no time to defrost, so very little forethought is required, even if you’re not meal planning.

I also used some of the ground beef and went on to make 2 meals worth of Bolognese Sauce for Spaghetti Bolognese later in the month. I freeze them flat in zip lock bags, as it takes very little time to defrost.

So for example, for that dinner, I can be done in 15 minutes from beginning to end. Take out the sauce and place it in the microwave. Boil the gluten-free pasta while I prepare the salad and dressing and the kids set the table. Done! It’s as fast as fast food and soooo much more wholesome and nutritious!

 

- Chopping and freezing ingredients. Onions, celery, herbs fresh from the garden, zucchini, peppers, mushrooms, cauliflower, beans, etc. All of this I freeze on a cookie sheet first, so it doesn’t clump together, then fill it into zip lock bags. Whenever I need it, I can just go and grab whatever I need, no defrosting necessary!

 

- Portion out the bulk food. That one seems like a no-brainer, but it is amazing how often I have not done that in the past and then spent extra time later trying to deal with a whole block of something. It really didn’t take that much more time while I was already cooking and prepping. And my freezer is so much more overseeable when you can just take what you need for the meal and go!

And I’m not just talking about the frozen bulk stuff. I even portioned out our rice this time. I know how much we usually eat per meal + lunches for the next day, so I used small ziplocks to portion it all out.  Now when I am ready to cook the rice, I just grab a bag, dump in the rice cooker, cover with water, turn it on and let it do it’s thing! How does it get better than that?

 

- Portion out freezer meals. These are different to the pre-cooked meals that I freeze. They are meals I might put in the crockpot to cook. I put all the ingredients together in a large zip lock bags that is required for the recipe and make a note on the bag what else is needed (water, stock, etc) It makes for quick grab and dump meals basically.

 

 

We are through the first week of August now, and I got to experience my little plan in action for a week.

 

I have to say, I am loving it so far! Cooking is a breeze! It’s quick and easy and hardly takes any time at all in putting it together! I still baked bread, treats and made desserts, but I expected that. The difference is that I can do this extra stuff if I feel like it. All the main stuff is covered, the rest is “gravy”. And I find that it’s much more fun to do the extra stuff now that I don’t “have” to!

 

I am also enjoying not having to heat up the kitchen fully every day as we are sweltering in the Phoenix summer heat!

 

It remains to be seen how it all works out for the rest of the month. I do enjoy not having to go shopping much and I think my husband is enjoying not having to run the extra errands on the way home for the things we’re missing here and there!

We will see after a few months what effect it has on the pocket book! I expect it to be a positive one!

I’m already loving the time it freed up! I’m excited to see how it can get even better than that!

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Recap Of the Last Few Weeks/Months

So, I’ve been rather absent from the blog lately.

Mostly because I got incredibly busy with other things. Things that take/took me away from the computer - which is probably a good thing at times!

 

First there was Christmas and I was totally taken over by making clothes for my daughter’s new 18” inch doll! I got a little carried away, as I had too much fun with all the little things to make!

Needless to say, it was all a big hit!

 

Then, the HUGE, GINORMOUS task of sorting through the garage took over. Our garage had been the catch all place for 3 moves, 2 bathroom and one kitchen remodel and 1 larger construction on the house. Not to mention twins growing out of things at an alarming rate from babyhood, to toddlerdom and now beyond.

I tell you, it got to a point where it just seemed totally overwhelming and we tried to be out there as little as possible. Add to that the fact that for 7 months of the year it is too hot to be out there more than 5 minutes, and you have something that could rival with some of the pictures from the TV show “hoarders!” Yikes!

 

Anyway, I tackled it. It took me always two weeks before everything was said and done - and organized, and donated, and thrown out, and rearranged, and hauled away and cleaned ... you get the picture! But I conquered it! And I have to admit, it’s a joy to go out there now! Well, while it’s not blistering hot yet!

And I also admit to going out there sometimes just to rejoice in this tidy new garage that we have! I know I’m weird but I take my little moments of bliss any way they come! And the kids “christened” the new found space by making huge paintings on the garage floor!

 

 

 

And for the last few weeks gardening and my new found love of Art journaling and Mixed Media Canvases has kept me away! And the fact that for us this is the time of year where all outside activities happen!

Our garden has started to burst forth, and it’s becoming quite lovely and colorful!

 

 

 

 

But today I want to write a little more about art journaling. I’ve always been a crafter and as many of you know, a digital scrapbooker and designer for years. But I’ve never been much into the whole altered art thing. Until recently. But even then it was digital.

Then, at the beginning of this year, I got the urge. The urge to get my hands dirty! The urge to create with colors and textures and what not!

 

So, I’ve been busy! I started by doing Christy Tomlinson’s She Art Online Workshop. Here are a couple of my canvases. And then I somewhat progressed into Art Journaling! I have started many pages but none of them are quite finished yet, so I’ll let you see them when they are.

 

 

 

 

 

Even my 6-year-old daughter wanted to make one. So we did and with a little help, she did a wonderful job:

 

 

But for now I wanted to give you some tips, tricks and links that I found useful getting started again. Granted I had most of what I needed, but unlike with digital art journaling, you run out of stuff when you do the hands on kind of creating! To make it easier to reference, I’m making this next part a separate post, so read on!

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Our Spring Garden

So the last couple of weeks, I’ve spent a considerable amount of time in our yard/garden.

Planting, sowing, potting, transplanting, feeding, tieing, weeding and setting up the automatic watering system (well, that’s mostly my hubby though!)

I tell you an automatic watering system is the cure to a brown thumb in Phoenix! You have to be so much more careful though when to set the system to go on, so you’re not pumping boiling water to your plants from any hoses that might have been heating up etc. So we have hoses and timers and custom spray nossels on every plant, designed just for the amount of water they need.

So far so good though! Even with last week’s record heat, our plants not only survived but seem to be thriving (with some extra waterings to counteract the first tripple digits of the year – in March … crazy!!!)

Everything has at least doubled in size, most plants have tripled and quadrupled however! Yay!

The Honeysuckles have also started to burst into bloom, bringing back many a butterfly and humming bird into our yard!

I also want to plant some edibles this year, so we have not only my stand by herbs of rosemary, chives, oregano, thyme, basil, mint, sage, dill and marjoram, but tomatoes, peppers, cucumbers, zucchini, oranges and containers of strawberries. 

 

Our little lime tree didn’t survive last years second hard frost and snow unfortunately

But since we have so much more room left, and I am quite eager to cover the ugly walls on other sides of the property too, I’m contemplating building some Earthtainers and taking the growing vegetables a little further still!

I would love to grow lettuce, corn and a few other things, but I fear that it may not work so well for us as it does get REALLY REALLY hot around here during the summer months and the (any) containers may just heat up too much.

By moving to containers, I could not only use a lot of the  space in the yard, that doesn’t have a raised bed, but also grow so much more organic veggies for the family. When living in the city with small children, the organic part as well as the getting the children familiar where the food comes from part seems so much more important!

I might try it in fall … when temperatures go down a bit more again here! We get a whole 2nd and sometimes 3rd growing season for certain things in Phoenix anyway.

For now I leave you with this though:

Yes, that’s what most of our lawn looks like now. This is hubby’s masterpiece again. A lawn like this doesn’t come naturally in Phoenix, I can tell you that, and this is not from sod. He turned the  remnants of the lawn from when we first moved in (you may remember this photo from another yard post)

 

into this, with sheer obstinacy and hard work!

It’s the best feeling to go out there barefoot in the early morning when it’s still cool and slightly moist from the night time watering. So plush and soft between the toes! Ahhhh!

 

Have a great day everyone!

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